Bagpipes have been played since Roman times and, despite their common connotation as purely Scottish instruments, are widely played in other parts of Europe, Asia, North America and North Africa. Bagpipes are reed instruments characterized by an air reservoir in the form of a bag that is inflated by air from a player's mouth or by bellows operated by the player's arm. The bag is usually made of an animal skin into which the chanter, or fingered melody pipe, and the unfingered drone pipes are inserted. The chanter and drones may be either cylindrical or conical, and have a single or double reed at their upper ends where they fit into the bag. Because the reeds are supplied with air from the bag, and not directly from the player's mouth, the player may breathe while playing resulting in an uninterrupted sound.
One type of bagpipe is the Uilleann Pipe, whose name derives from the Irish word meaning elbow. Uilleann Pipes typically utilize a bellows placed under one arm that inflates a bag placed under the other arm. A typical Uilleann Pipe includes a fingered reeded chanter drilled with eight holes, up to three reeded drone pipes and up to three keyed regulators. However, some chromatic Uilleann Pipe chanters may include four more keyed holes. While playing, the chanter is held such that the end of the chanter rests against the leg of the player. In this manner, the player simultaneously fills the bag with air from the bellows, pumps air from the bag through the chanter and drone pipes and manipulates the fingers over the eight holes of the chanter to produce sounds.
The Uilleann Pipes have been played in the United States for many years, but have gained popularity of late due to their use in the soundtrack for the movie "Titanic" and in the stage production of "Riverdance". However, many people wishing to learn to play the Uilleann Pipes are discouraged from doing so by their price and availability, which range from between $2,000 and $6,500 and between 2 and 6 years to obtain a new set. As a result, there has been a need for "practice" sets of Uilleann Pipes that are readily available and reasonably priced.
Currently, there are a number of practice sets of Uilleann Pipes on the market that include a reeded chanter a bellows and bag, but do not include drone pipes. These sets allow a player to practice the coordination between bellows and bag and to practice the fingering of the chanter. However, the cost of these "practice" pipes is still between $700 and $1,300, due to the high cost of the bellows and bag. Thus, even practice pipes may be too expensive for a person who is interested in learning to play, but is unsure of whether they will continue to play.
To eliminate the cost of the bag and bellows, practice chanters for other types of bagpipes have been developed utilizing a modified tin whistle design. The tin whistle belongs to the species of musical instrument called flageolets. The terms "whistle flute" and "fipple flute" are used to designate flageolets and refer to a method of sound production. The fipple is an apparatus formed by a small plug or block, usually wood, set into a mouthpiece or formed integral to the mouthpiece. A small space or duct is created between the edge of the fipple and the inside wall of the instrument. In operation, the airstream from the player is directed by this fipple duct system against a sharp edge or lip that is cut into the tube below the fipple, thereby producing sound. Practice chanters for Great Highland Bagpipes, such as those sold under the trade name "Chanter Whistle" by Piper Mike of Lake Mary, Fla., are modified tin whistles in that they utilize a fipple head formed into a tube. By modifying such a whistle to include the finger locations of those on a Great Highland Bagpipe chanter, the fingering of the Great Highland Bagpipes could be practiced without investing in a complete set of pipes. However, this chanter falls short as the notes produced by the device were off pitch from those needed to simulate those produced by a normal Great Highland Bagpipe practice chanter, which would use a reed, when played with the same fingerings. Further, the amount of air required to achieve a given note is opposite of what is required of the actual Great Highland Bagpipes or it's normal practice chanters; i.e. the Piper Mike Chanter Whistle would require the least amount of air for its highest note while the highest note on the actual bagpipe would require the largest amount of air.
A practice chanter for the Uilleann Pipes that is reasonably priced, readily available and that produces notes that simulate the fingering and the sounds produced by a chanter on a full set of Uilleann Pipes is not known in the art.